the "biological part" in the article is good and seems to be factual. The political conclusion looks however more"cut and paste there".
On being the right size (1928)
21–30 of 150 posts
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#22This is really an argument against socialism as the communists tried to implement it. Where the state nationalizes every industry and all workers become employed by the state which plans everything centrally. Most socialists have moved beyond that model and would instead prefer to see a system of enterprise that uses co-op's instead of privately or publicly owned business. Some industries would probably be nationaliz…
One problem with this is people as a group tend to be stupid. What stops the workforce from voting to reduce their work hours to 30 hours per week?
Take the Automotive unions as an example. Their demands contributed in many ways to the US auto companies nearly going bankrupt and requiring state bailouts.
Moving manufacturing to cheaper places can have a bad local effect in pockets that depend on it, but there is a net gain for us as consumers in an economy to be able to acquire things cheaply.
So our auto manufacturers complained they can't compete against the Japanese imports, we cranked up a bunch of tariffs to artificially increase the cost of foreign produced goods. For consumers that is a net loss as it drives up our prices.
Now, foreign companies produce many of their cars in the united states with union free labor and american companies have started producing cars in mexico so they can pay the pensions for all the retired union employees.
This is a simplification but that's how I understand it.
I'm not arguing that unions are bad. only that they can be very bad. There are benefits when there is an /abusive/ monopoly supplying jobs. (think foxconn), but unions can be just as abusive as employers and literally kill their own employers in the process. The free market is the best solution to the problem which enables a company to hire non-union employees when the union's demands become too great.
My philosophy is that if you can't compete on price you need to compete on quality and offer a superior product. (This is why people still buy German produced cars in other countries regardless of the increased cost in manufacturing).
For clarification sake I'm saying that the mass of people at the bottom of an organization can have demands that conflict with the survival of the business. It's good that there are smart people who fought their way up the bureaucracy through a meritocracy. They generally won't make a decision that will obviously drive a company straight into the dirt while this is distinct risk in unions with entitlement issues.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#23This is really an argument against socialism as the communists tried to implement it. Where the state nationalizes every industry and all workers become employed by the state which plans everything centrally. Most socialists have moved beyond that model and would instead prefer to see a system of enterprise that uses co-op's instead of privately or publicly owned business. Some industries would probably be nationaliz…
>someone other than the people doing the work get to decide how the work is done and how to spend the surplus of value that work generates.
Who do you mean here? Foreman, manager, executive, owner... these are all real jobs that do real work.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#24This is really an argument against socialism as the communists tried to implement it. Where the state nationalizes every industry and all workers become employed by the state which plans everything centrally. Most socialists have moved beyond that model and would instead prefer to see a system of enterprise that uses co-op's instead of privately or publicly owned business. Some industries would probably be nationaliz…
One problem with this is people as a group tend to be stupid. What stops the workforce from voting to reduce their work hours to 30 hours per week? Take the Automotive unions as an example. Their demands contributed in many ways to the US auto companies nearly going bankrupt and requiring state bailouts. Moving manufacturing to cheaper places can have a bad local effect in pockets that depend on it, but there is a ne…
It's funny you mention Germany there at the end since it undermines your whole argument. German auto workers are all unionized and they earn double what American auto workers do.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
One problem with this is people as a group tend to be stupid. What stops the workforce from voting to reduce their work hours to 30 hours per week? Take the Automotive unions as an example. Their demands contributed in many ways to the US auto companies nearly going bankrupt and requiring state bailouts. Moving manufacturing to cheaper places can have a bad local effect in pockets that depend on it, but there is a ne…
It's funny you mention Germany there at the end since it undermines your whole argument. German auto workers are all unionized and they earn double what American auto workers do.
It doesn't undermine my argument. I said they compete on quality. Unions can be just as tyrannical as a monopoly. If German companies didn't produce better cars than cheaper countries there would be no reason to buy them and very few people would.
Added to my above comment:
"For clarification sake I'm saying that the mass of people at the bottom of an organization can have demands that conflict with the survival of the business. It's good that there are smart people who fought their way up the bureaucracy through a meritocracy. They generally won't make a decision that will obviously drive a company straight into the dirt while this is distinct risk in unions with entitlement issues."
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#26Relate this to Dunbar's Number and an effective small business. Dunbar says 150 total for a social group. But we operate across multiple social groups, across all realms of life, not just your job. If you wanted to put together an elite group of excellent professionals, how big do you suspect that could be? In other words, how large should you let your company get before you spit it down the middle into two subsidiar…
I don't know if I'm ok with using 83% (125/150) of all my Monkeysphere slots on "work".
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#27This is really an argument against socialism as the communists tried to implement it. Where the state nationalizes every industry and all workers become employed by the state which plans everything centrally. Most socialists have moved beyond that model and would instead prefer to see a system of enterprise that uses co-op's instead of privately or publicly owned business. Some industries would probably be nationaliz…
One problem with this is people as a group tend to be stupid. What stops the workforce from voting to reduce their work hours to 30 hours per week? Take the Automotive unions as an example. Their demands contributed in many ways to the US auto companies nearly going bankrupt and requiring state bailouts. Moving manufacturing to cheaper places can have a bad local effect in pockets that depend on it, but there is a ne…
I think the point on outsourcing is hinted at I the other story trending highly today about the man living without money.
If you had to look a 9 year old child labourer in the eye each time you were buying your cheaply made T-shirt, or a worker how has just completed a 14hour day making component for your phone, would you still feel as happy with your purchase.
Yes not all outsourcing is negative and not all worker abused, but when you remove visibility of production from people you limit their ability to choose based not only on the quality of the product but also the morals of the producing company.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#28This is really an argument against socialism as the communists tried to implement it. Where the state nationalizes every industry and all workers become employed by the state which plans everything centrally. Most socialists have moved beyond that model and would instead prefer to see a system of enterprise that uses co-op's instead of privately or publicly owned business. Some industries would probably be nationaliz…
Jobs would still move, it's just that an industry in another country owned by someone else would eventually take the business. That is unless the local industry was somehow able to ban foreign competition. The beauty of capitalism is that it roots out inefficiency. If you take a look at history, state controlled enterprises are the most polluting.
Exactly. Spend some time in the foreign Soviet Bloc and this is crystal clear.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
One problem with this is people as a group tend to be stupid. What stops the workforce from voting to reduce their work hours to 30 hours per week? Take the Automotive unions as an example. Their demands contributed in many ways to the US auto companies nearly going bankrupt and requiring state bailouts. Moving manufacturing to cheaper places can have a bad local effect in pockets that depend on it, but there is a ne…
I think the point on outsourcing is hinted at I the other story trending highly today about the man living without money. If you had to look a 9 year old child labourer in the eye each time you were buying your cheaply made T-shirt, or a worker how has just completed a 14hour day making component for your phone, would you still feel as happy with your purchase. Yes not all outsourcing is negative and not all worker a…
Perhaps the 9 year old child laborer would otherwise starve. I'll gladly buy the T-shirt every time.
Or think of it like this. If all T-Shirts were required to be made in the US by union laborers working 30 hours per week and each one cost $50, I'd probably buy a heck of a lot less T shirts.
Re: On being the right size (1928)
#30the "biological part" in the article is good and seems to be factual. The political conclusion looks however more"cut and paste there".
The author was an evolutionary biologist who happened to be a Marxist. Apparently, like Ralph Milliband, one of those Marxists who didn't like Russian communism! See the other comments for a link to his wikipedia page.